On Line Bible Study - For the week September 29 - October 5, 2008

Lesson 355

Matthew's Apocalypse

We mentioned last week that Matthew 24-25 are apocalyptic sections of the gospel. Recall there are several important factors regarding this kind of literature:

1. First, in the Hebrew Bible this kind of literature surfaced when the people faced extreme challenges bordering on their annihilation. It was offered as encouragement - that God would provide a way where there seemed to be no way.
2. Second, apocalyptic literature is a "revelation" - it means a secret is about to be disclosed or a mystery made clear. If you recall Matthew 24 Jesus tells his disciples to be careful not to be deceived (verse 4). He then interprets the events of his day, telling the disciples what to look for.
3. Apocalyptic literature is intended to be an encouragement for watchfulness and resourcefulness. That leads us to the two parables and the story we are considering this week in Matthew 25.

The Parables . . .

Matthew 25:1-13 First, we read the Parable of the Ten Virgins. It's a wedding, and the bridesmaids (that is what is meant in the text by ten virgins) have the role of bringing the bridegroom to the bride in a grand, celebratory procession. The issue in this parable is one of preparedness. Five brought a sufficient quantity of oil; the other five did not. While they were out procuring oil, the bridegroom arrived, the procession ensued, the wedding began and the door was shut. When the five who had been out shopping returned they were not allowed in. But it's not so much that they were excluded as that they had not been present to do their job, that is, to provide light and celebration to the procession.

Matthew 25:14-30 Second, we read the Parable of the Bags of Gold. Here three servants are entrusted with a portion of their master's treasure - five bags of gold to one, two bags of gold to another, and one bag of gold to still another. The first two invested the money and doubled the amount that had been trusted to them. The third man buried his bag of gold. When the master returned and demanded an accounting, so angry was he with the third man that he had him thrown out into the darkness. Do you know what God requires? Are you tending to it?

A question often asked of this parable is this: How would the master have reacted if the risk of his servants had resulted in the loss of his money? While a reasonable question, it doesn't get to the heart of the parable. That question must not be the excuse for our not risks on behalf of the kingdom of heaven! (Given the current status of Wall Street investments and the unprecedented cost to society of risks foolishly taken, the question does have contemporary significance.)

The Story . . .

Matthew 25:31-46 And finally, there is the story of The Sheep and the Goats - those who ministered to the king without knowing it, and those who unwittingly neglected the king because they ignored the needs of the poor, the stranger, the sick and the prisoner. All nations will be called to judgment (verse 32), and the criteria for entering their inheritance in the kingdom has to do with their treatment of others. Matthew doesn't dismiss the importance of faith; but in this story he makes sure to link what we profess with what we actually do. And the story does raise the question: Can one's actions demonstrate an un-professed faith?

The apocalyptic sections in Matthew's gospel pose several questions for our reflection:

1. Are you ready?
2. Are you risking?
3. Do you know what God requires?
4. Are you taking care of the poor?

All of this gathers much more intensity as we consider the first two verses of Matthew 26:

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, "As you know, the Passover is two days away - and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."

1. Was Jesus ready?
2. Did he take risks?
3. Did he know what God required?
4. Did he take care of the poor?

This is simply to point out that he didn't expect anything of them - or of us - that he didn't expect of himself.

This is the 61st lesson on the Gospel of Matthew. We have three chapters to go - some of the most complicated, intricate, confusing, tragic, challenging and exhilarating verses in all of Scripture await us! Next week we head into Chapter 26 - The Plot Against Jesus - that's how one of my Bibles labels it.

On Line Bible Study - For the week September 22-28, 2008

Matthew 24

I encourage you to take a moment and look at Matthew 24 as translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message. Here is the link:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=24&version=65

A word about "apocalyptic" literature - the word means that what is hidden is going to be revealed. Matthew 24 is written in the style of apocalyptic. The disciples, having drawn Jesus' attention to the temple, are then told by Christ (quoting from Peterson's translation):

Matthew 24:2 You're not impressed by all this sheer size, are you? The truth of the matter is that there's not a stone in that building that is not going to end up in a pile of rubble.

Hearing this, the disciples ask Jesus when this will happen - when will the building end up as "rubble"?

Jesus then tries to explain that people will claim the end is coming based on certain events ("wars and rumors of wars . . . nations rising against nations . . ."). Peterson translates this very well:

Matthew 24:6-8 When reports come in of wars and rumored wars, keep your head and don't panic. This is routine history; this is no sign of the end. Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Famines and earthquakes will occur in various places. This is nothing compared to what is coming.

Keep your head and don't panic! Fear is a powerful motivator. In the TNIV translation Jesus says: See to it that you are not alarmed. I am reminded of a line in II Timothy 1:7 that reads: The Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. Do not be afraid!

It's important for us to know that apocalyptic literature almost always emerges out of a context of persecution and threat. In Ezekiel 36-38 we read of hope in the midst of exile. Can the people live? Or, put another way, is there a tomorrow? Apocalyptic literature responds with a resounding YES! God will fight for us! All is not what it may appear to be!

One of the differences between the apocalyptic literature in the prophets is that it focuses on the present. It asks the questions: How did we get into this mess? What is God going to do to get us out? In the New Testament - the apocalyptic passages in the gospels, Thessalonians, and the Book of Revelation - the focus shifts from the present to the end. It is often associated with what is known to Bible Students as eschatology. ("Eschatology" is defined as that having to do with the end of things, final matters.)

If you read through Peterson's translation of Matthew 24, you hear Jesus telling his disciples to "stay with it". (Stand firm to the end. Matthew 24:13 - TNIV.) Don't lose your faith. And Jesus issues the clear warning to us - don't get caught up in trying to figure out when the end will come! The chapter concludes with the story (that is how Jesus teaches us - not with scriptures to be memorized, but with stories to be lived into) - of a servant who can be trusted to do the job whether the Master is watching or not.

Matthew completes this apocalyptic section in chapter 25 with two parables and a story - we'll look at those next time. I encourage you to take advantage of Peterson's The Message. The entire translation of the Bible is available online at

http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/?action=getVersionInfo&vid=65

On Line Bible Study - For the week September 15 - 21, 2008

Lesson 353 Matthew 59

Matthew 23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

Jesus warns the people regarding the "teachers" and Pharisees. His primary concern: they don't practice what they preach. It is interesting, isn't it, that Jesus does tell us to obey their words. They teach from the Law of Moses. But don't place expectations on others that you are unwilling to meet in your own life. Bible Scholar John Nolland warns about the temptation to overstate (distort) what we are critiquing in others. Some scholars wonder if what is recorded as having been said about the Pharisees wasn't originally spoken to them. Either way, Matthew does turn the attention away from the Pharisees and teachers of the law. Identifying what they do is not enough; rather, it is for us to make sure we don't do what they do. The reason Jesus issues the warning should be obvious: It is all too easy to have higher standards for everyone else.

One other observation about this passage . . . Many people were illiterate in First Century Palestine; and even if one could read, copies (or scrolls) of the Torah were not easy to come by. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees need to be listened to when they are reading from Torah. At that point, they are not offering any interpretation, but simply what the text says. The text must be heeded, regardless of who is reading it.

After warning the people against seeking titles for themselves, Jesus goes on to state seven "woes" to the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. They
1. Shut the doors of the kingdom on the faces of people. (Verses 13-14.)
2. Make converts and then confuse them. (Verse 15.)
3. Swear by the gold in the temple, and the gift on the altar, dismissing the fact that it is the temple itself that makes the gold valuable, and the altar itself that makes the gift sacred. (Verses 16-22.)
4. Tithe on their spices while ignoring the law's mandate - to be righteous, merciful and faithful. They should attend the latter without neglecting the former. (Verses 23-24.)
5. Though the ritual cleanliness of the inside of the container is what is determinative, they focus on the appearance of the outside of the cup. (Verses 25-26.)
6. Though the exterior of tombs may be whitewashed clean and beautiful, it does not alter the fact that contact with tombs renders one ritually unclean. (Verses 27-28.)
7. They tend the tombs of prophets, but ignore what the prophets have proclaimed. (Verses 29-32.)
For each of these Jesus pronounces a "woe" upon them.

Matthew 23: 33 "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.

II Chronicles 24 tells of a Zechariah who was stoned to death in the courtyard of the Temple. Is that the "Zechariah" Jesus (and Matthew) makes reference to here?

As the Christian Church began to emerge, and there was increased polemic between Judaism and Christianity, the Pharisees became something of a flashpoint. Some of that rhetoric may have been exaggerated over time. What makes Jesus' confrontations with Pharisees so important has as much to do with our own "pharisaical tendencies" today - in the more negative sense of that word. Be careful about "appearances". Make sure you tend to the inner life. Don't turn away from the prophets and the prophetic message. Chapter 23 concludes with a "lament":

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

Please God; may it not be so that Jesus has to lament over me! "Gather me in"; let your Spirit hover over me; create in me a clean heart, and give me a willing spirit!

For next time we head into Chapter 24 - this is Matthew's "Apocalypse". Read it over this week.

On Line Bible Study - For the week September 8 - 14, 2008

Matthew 22:34-46 34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?"
"The son of David," they replied.

43 He said to them, "How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him 'Lord'? For he says,
44 " 'The Lord said to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet." ' 45 If then David calls him 'Lord,' how can he be his son?" 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

The "Great Commandments" - one having to do with piety, the other having to do with virtue (Nolland). Is one possible without the other? Authentic love for God has to play itself out as authentic love for others. Love for God keeps our actions pure - not for self-gain, but because of God's amazing grace - that's why we love. And love for neighbor keeps our religion relevant. Ask any mom who is changing diapers, any spouse who is sacrificing for the other - "love of neighbor" is not always easy, but it's what keeps our spirituality honest.

The tests have come fast and furious in this chapter. Is it lawful to pay taxes? Is there a resurrection? What is the greatest commandment? One after another these questions have come at Jesus, and they with the explicit intent in the case of the taxes and greatest commandment to test - read trap - Jesus.

The chapter will conclude with still another question - this one coming from Jesus - Whose son is the Christ?

It may be that Jesus is looking to open the eyes of the Pharisees on two fronts:

1. Whose "son" is the Christ? David's is the kingdom to be emulated by the Messiah, and this "anointed one" is referred to as the "Son of David". But, given the quote from Psalm 110:1 - The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand . . .", with the assumption that David is the author of the Psalm, and given the common interpretation of "lord" in messianic terms, "Christ" must be ever so much more than David's son.
2. The messianic project must be ever so much other than a reconstitution of the Davidic kingdom. More than just subjecting Israel's enemies, there has to be something else going on. And indeed there is!

The New Testament will understand the ministry of Jesus as reaching far beyond the boundaries of Israel. This is a "project" that has cosmic - and eternal - implications. The Pharisees were not at all turned on to this fact; and neither were the disciples - not yet.

The Gospel of Matthew is becoming more intense, more pointed - moving now with greater focus on the what he believes to be the purpose for Jesus' having come. There will be no more face-off's with the Pharisees until Jesus is arrested. They will work their schemes behind the scenes from here on. But Jesus is not finished with them. Chapter 23 is first a warning against the Pharisees, and then a scathing condemnation of them. We will cover the entire chapter in our next lesson.